Combination mirror and flushing device



July 15, 1958 L. cLARsoN COMBINATION MIRROR ANO FLUSHING DEVICE FiledJune 15, 1955 la l l u, n

INVENTOR. LAR/PY C. Meso/v United States Patent- O 2,843,019 COMBINATIONMIRROR AND FLUSHINGDEVICE Larry C. Larson, EagleBend, Minn.

l Application June 15 1955, -Serial;No.. 515',666 2 claims.r(c1.'8s.;104)

This invention'relates to mirrors .and istparticularly concerned withmirror combinations includingzvfluid ow means and controlsthereforoperable to-facilitatesthe use of the mirror.

Hand mirrors particularly designed fork use in confined, spaces andgenerally characterized by a small, usually circular mirror, mounted atan angle, 1o an elongated slender manipulating handle,`have long beenknown. Such mirrors are widely used inthe inspection of. body cavities,as in dentistry, and are also commonly1 employed in machine tooloperations for the inspection of close operations and in radio and likefabrication and repair where direct vision is difficult or impossible.In .such uses, difficulty arises from the presence of moisture,machining chips, lubricant or dust and dirt and` in the case: of,`dental work may obscure the cavity being treated. It has been suggestedthat this difficulty might be avoided by the provision of means incombination with the mirror for owing a fluid stream of a suitableflushing me-dium, such as air, to dry the moisture or remove any foreignmaterial present. However, where such suggestions have been put inpractice, the structures have been clumsy, valving arrangements havebeen inadequate or complicated, mirror adjustment or replacement has notbeen provided and the point of emission or direction of travel ofemitted uid have not been ide-al.

It is therefore among the objects of the present invention to provide anovel, simple and improved hand mirror including efficient and effectivemeans for discharging and controlling air flow adjacent the reflectingsurface.

Another object is to provide in a device ofthe character set forth,means for readily adjusting or replacing the mirror element on a handleand for firmly securing the same after adjustment or replacement.

A further object of the invention is to provide convenient and simplevalve means for controlling the ow of fluid adjacent the reflecting faceof a mirror of the type set forth.

It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide amirror and fluid iiow combination so constructed and arranged, as toinsure a uid flow such as to most advantageously serve the requiredpurpose.

With these and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionin mind, reference may be had to the following specieation taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. l is a longitudinal section of one preferred embodiment of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the valve and colletmechanism;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig` 3. Y

2,843,019 Patented July 15, 1958 "ice In general terms, that form of theinvention here presented, by way of illustration, may be defined asincluding a generally cylindrical casing constituting an elongatemanipulatinghandle. Within the casing, there is mounted a vconventionalfluid ow valve as commonly employed in automobile inner tubes andthrough the side wall of the casing a spring urged control plunger forthe valve is located. A iushing medium inlet nipple is provided at oneend of the casing, While a collet at the opposite end, adjustably andremovably receives the hollow shank of a mirror bracket. The bracketprovides an end air vent for directing air therefrom outwardly in adirection normal to and hence away from the reflecting surface of themirror.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the cylindrical casingis generally indicated by the numeral 10. The inner end 11 of the casingis fitted with a tubular plug 12 terminating in a headed nipple 13 whichmay conveniently receive a flexible air pressure tube of conventionaldesign, not shown. Adjacent the opposite end of the casing 1t), butintermediate the ends thereof, internal threads l5 are formed to receivethe conventional external threads 16 of a conventional valve 17, such ascommonly found in automobile inner tubes. Since the valve 17 is quiteconventional and, as to its structure, forms no part of the presentinvention, it may lbriefly be defined as including an air inlet i8poppet type valve and stern 19 and seating spring 2l). An outwardlyprotruding extension 2l of the stem 19 provides for unseating of thevalve against the tension of the spring 20, as hereinafter described.

Adjacent the threaded portion l5 of the casing lo, there is provided, bythickening of the casing walls, a transversely open plunger housing 25.Within the hcusing 25, a plunger 26 is mounted provided with a camsurface 27. A recess 23 of the plunger receives a coil spring 29 bywhich tie plunger is normally urged outwardly of its mounting in thehousing 25. Also located within the housing 25 is a valve stem operatingball Sil which engages the end of the stem 2l at one side and bearsagainst the cam surface 27 at the other.

By this arrangement, it will be seen, that the spring 2@ of the valve 17will normally close the same. However, when the plunger 26 is depressedby pressure on the outer button 31, thereof, it may be moved inwardlyagainst the tension of its spring 29, thus caming the ball 30 towardsthe valve 17 and unseating the valve by pressure in- Wardly on stern 2lagainst the tension of its spring 20. Upon such movement, air enteringthrough nipple 12 will pass through valve 17 and enter the cham-ber 32below plunger 26 from port 33 and thence upwardly through the springrecess 28 of the plunger and through port 3ft to the central air outletpassage 35 of the casing. It will be noted, by this arrangement, thatsince, port 34 is not in registration with passage 35 except at suchtime as the plunger is depressed, a secondary valve function isperformed and hence leakage through valve 17 will not necessarilydissipate the air pressure.

The outer end 40 of the casing 1) is formed with an externally threadednose 4l which receives thereover a threadedly adjustable collet sleeve42, the internal conical face 43 of which engages collet jaws 44 tocontract the same for clamping engagement with the hollow shank 45 ofthe mirror bracket. This collet chuck arrangement is frequently resortedto in many varieties of tools and is Well known to those skilled in theart. It will be understood, that as the collet sleeve 42 is threaded inor out upon the nose 4l, the collet arms will grasp or release themirror shank 45 to permit adjustment of the angular relation of themirror or to permit replacement thereof.

The mirror is of conventional circular form having a reflecting surface46 supported at an angle to the axis of the cylindrical housing by acasing 47 formed integrally with the outer end of the shank 45. An airpassage 48 of the shank 45 continues into an air passage 49 centrallyacross and behind the reflecting surface 45 to terminate in a jetaperture 50. The aperture 50 is located with an axis generally normal tothe surface of the mirror and hence, air ow will be directly outwardfrom the reflecting surface.

From the foregoing it will readily be seen, that the present deviceprovides a rugged simple and durable device well designed to meet thedemands of economic manufacture. It will be noted, that the operation issimple, the control conveniently arranged for single-handed manipulationand that a dual valving performance is attained. The mirror may bereadily adjusted and replaced and the issuing air stream will moveoutwardly from the reflecting surface to preclude contamination. Itwill, of course, be understood, that in the practice of the inventionnumerous changes, modifications and the full use of equivalents may beresorted to without departure from the spirit or scope thereof, asoutlined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination mirror and flushing device comprising an elongatedcylindrical hollow casing, a fitting on one end of said casing forattaching a flushing medium supply conduit, a valve in said casing forcontrolling the ow of flushing medium therethrough, manually operablevalve actuating means projecting transversely of said casing, a colletchuck at the opposite end of said casing comprising resilient jaws and asleeve threadedly engaging said casing and operable to open and closesaid jaws, a tubular shank having one end removably and adjustablyreceived in said jaws, said shank terminating at the opposite end in anangularly disposed tubular mirror bracket and a mirror secured to saidbracket, said bracket terminating at the end opposite said shank in aflushing medium jet orifice directed at substantially right angles tothe reflecting surface of said mirror.

2. A combination mirror and flushing device comprising an elongatedcylindrical hollow casing, a fitting on one end of said casing forattaching a flushing medium supply conduit, a valve in said casing forcontrolling the flow of flushing medium therethrough, manually operablevalve actuating means projecting from said casing, a collet chuck at theopposite end of said casing comprising resilient jaws and a sleeveengaging said casing and operable to open and close said jaws, a tubularshank having one end removably and adjustably received in said jaws,said shank terminating at the opposite end in a tubular mirror bracketand a mirror secured to said bracket, said bracket terminating at theend opposite said shank in a flushing medium jet orifice.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,352,789 Craig Sept. 14, 1920 1,813,982 Woodruff July 14, 19311,905,633 Feltham Apr. 25, 1933 1,934,110 Wilson Nov. 7, 1933 2,009,845Farmer July 30, 1935 2,120,091 Densten June 7, 1938

